39

Ghost sat in the middle of the lake meditating as gentle winds blew across the water, ruining his meditation

"You should work on your stealth", he said as he slowly opened his eyes.

"No matter how good I am in stealth, it's never gonna be good enough to surprise you", Said Shisui with a grin as he walked to the shore.

Ghost sighed, "Why are you here..?!"

Shisui hesitated for a while before speaking, "Sensei, can I be a part of this mission?"

"No. And I am not your sensei, I have been telling you this for years", Ghost said closing his eyes yet again

"Please?", Shisui pleaded while ignoring the rest of the comment.

"No. You're too weak to make it"

"I am strong...!", Shisui could not complete his sentence when Ghost pat his head and just walked past him.

Shisui's body trembled violently, 'How did he do that... I- I was fully prepared... I... what happened..?!'

Shisui gulped at the thought of Ghost being right beside him without him being able to even catch a glimpse of his shadow. Despite his Sharingan open, he could not get a good look at his opponent...

The person in front of him is way too strong for him, they don't even belong to the same stage. Shisui's eyes turn into excited ones as he stares at Ghost's back going away.

He thought he almost caught up with his master even if it was just in the terms of speed, but it turns out, they are still a realm apart.

"Sensei, did you get faster..?! How did you do that..? Was it space-time Jutsu? When will you teach me?", Shisui said feeling excited as he took long steps to follow up, "Does that pat on my head means that I am a part of this secret mission?"

"You should try speaking a bit less", Ghost said as he stopped moving and pointed in a random direction, "Learn from your friend over there. He has been staring at us quietly for so long, without even opening his mouth once", Ghost said, and Shisui turns his head.

"Itachi?"

...

Itachi, Shisui, and Ghost stood outside Konoha with the moon hanging high in the sky

"What are you doing here?", Shisui asked, confused that his best friend actually managed to sneak on him.

"Father asked me to follow you, You are getting sloppier"

"O-Oh. Actually, I was...", Shisui stopped midway because Itachi ignored him.

"I am not here to talk about that. I am here to get an answer that I have been searching for weeks that only you can answer", Itachi looked directly into Ghost's eyes.

"Speak", Ghost said rolling his eyes. Why is he surrounded by a bunch of pre-teens in the middle of nowhere? No, why is Uchiha heir here anyway? How could the village executives leave him in the wild with no surveillance?

Or is he already good enough to escape the surveillance...?!

Itachi nodded, "I heard a lot about you from Shisui. He respects you a lot. According to him, you are not biased against Uchihas. Then why did you suppress my clan?"

"..."

Ghost stared at the little guy who actually managed to become Anbu this year.

"Is my clan's Kekkei Genkai so bad that it needs to be gone for the people to be able to accept us?"

Getting no answer from the man in front of him for a while, Itachi took a deep breath as he respectfully bowed down towards the man, "I guess you don't have the answer either. You must have had your reasons back then. I... understand"

"Keep up", Ghost said as he moved again, "I will give you your answers on our way back to the village"

"Hai", Itachi said, he needs to know this answer, He needs to know whether his clan is as bad as everyone says it is. Whether his eyes are the source of every problem that makes people unable to accept them.

And the only person that could answer his questions is someone whose answer he could trust without any bias of any kind. Shisui trusts this man, so Itachi chose to trust him too.

They traveled on foot, slowly walking through the rocky forest without using a bit of their chakra. Itachi and Shisui followed Ghost matching the assassin's slow pace.

"You are born in a noble clan", Ghost said suddenly, breaking the silence with his words.

Ghost turn back and looked at the 11-year-old Itachi, "Do you know about the will of fire?"

Itachi nodded, "It means that the entire village is like a large family unit and every Konoha shinobi with the will of fire loves, believes, cherishes, and fights to protect the village, as previous generations had done before them"

Shisui laughed slightly, "It's such a textbook answer"

Ghost glared at the older boy with a mean look. Shisui stopped laughing and just lowered his head.

"Second Hokage thought that Uchiha clan's Curse of Hatred is fated to clash against the Will of Fire, and those who reject it are outright antagonistic towards the village, and in turn are held in contempt by the village. That's why everyone thinks that Uchihas are big villains. Their innate pride does not help either"

Itachi tilted his head, "Curse of hatred?"

"According to what Second Hokage wrote, Uchihas feel love more than anyone else, and once an Uchiha loses that love, it can instantly turn into hatred, leaving them more inclined to do anything and everything in their power to achieve their goals and show their own superiority, regardless of the consequences and repercussions of their actions. That's what the curse of hatred means"

"..."

"But Second Hokage was wrong, No one understood because no one saw what I saw", He look towards Shisui, "Those eyes that you possess, they are not just the eyes of hatred. Sharingan feels love and hatred like everyone else, Seeing the death of their precious people, they cry and get angry"

Shisui and Itachi look at each other.

"And to not let this happen ever again, they grow stronger, they evolve further. The deeper the love, the stronger they get. This is the true power of your eyes", Ghost took a deep breath as he look at the two Uchihas before he squat in front of the young heir of the clan.

"These eyes carry so much love. How can they be evil?", Ghost finished and Itachi and Shisui stood there stunned by the answer.

"But, why is no one in the clan willing to listen?", Itachi lowered his head.

"Because you are asking them to bow their head", He said slowly making Itachi look at him in confusion.

"Uchiha clan has been fighting for so many years even before the Sengoku period and has never even once been annihilated. Just how powerful and glorious do you think your clan is?"

"..."

"Such a noble and fearsome clan that only annihilated their enemies from the very beginning, a clan full of geniuses, just how much do you think they bowed their heads to the village so that their children could grow up in peace? You can't ask them to bow any further Itachi"

"But it's the only way!!! No one likes our clan. If we could just bow our heads even lower than-

"Than what? People will start liking Uchihas better? No, nothing will change even after that"

Itachi's serious eyes stare at Ghost, is he saying that the work he and Shisui did for so many months is just for nothing?

Ghost sighed, "My sensei taught me many things, but one of them struck me till the end. She taught me as long as people don't understand each other, true peace can not be obtained, and such was the case with Uchihas and Senjus", Ghost repeated what Kushina sensei told him a long time ago, perhaps, these kids will remember this for the rest of their lives.

"..."

"After the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara's death, peace was never an option for both clans. The clans hated each other but none wanted to leave the village. Uchihas were already in decline because of Uchiha Madara's deeds, and then Senju Tobirama became the second Hokage, it was already a dark period for them. But then comes his students who underwent his mantle and took things too far. People were manipulated by them and that's what lead to this current situation"

"Unless there is a Hokage who can understand them, bear their hatred, and still respect them without jealousy. Uchihas will always be the villains. And if it's about me, I did it to prevent war from happening..."

Ghost stood back up, "Uchihas won't start rebellion because I am suppressing them outrightly. As long as you wait, I am sure there will be a Hokage in the future who will bring peace between your clan and the village, and that way we can finally stop fighting amongst ourselves"

Itachi nodded and bowed respectfully again, "Thank you for answering my question and letting me understand more about my clan"

Ghost nodded, "Go home"

"Yes", Itachi said as he turned back towards Shisui as they both started walking back all the way.

"Where are you going?", Ghost's stern voice sounded making an awkwardly laughing boy with sweat all over his face turn back. He recognizes this tone really well.

"We are commencing a training week for you starting tomorrow; how come one of my squad members gets trailed without noticing, ridiculous", Ghost said sternly, making Shisui's face turn into a horror one.

"Sensei, it's not fair, it's Itachi you are talking about, he is a genius who-

Ghost just glared at the young boy who lowered his head, "I understand", Shisui pouted and muttered.

"..."

Red-faced Itachi just lowered his head, Shisui is being punished because of him. He wanted to say something but a single glare from Ghost managed to shut his mouth, lest the man's anger turns on him.

...

In the secret room of his apartment, Ghost stares at the wall with many pictures attached to it while holding a coffee mug in his hand. According to everything he collected, Uchiha Obito is dead for sure. But then who did he sense back then..?!

But then again, another factor is going on, Danzo is planning something, something big. And that something requires Uchiha Itachi, that's why he was able to join Root(s) despite being a hated Uchiha...

"Is it because of his talents..?!", He muttered as he took a sip, "No, no matter how talented, Uchihas are never trusted. Then why?"

While he was thinking, he frowned. The cup fell to the ground and broke, Ghost was gone long before the cup even hit the floor.

...

Ghost's chakra flared for a moment, as he angrily entered inside Naruto's room to see a lone orange spiral-masked man standing right there looking at a picture. Naruto was not anywhere in sight.

"Yo...

The spiral-masked man couldn't complete a single word and Ghost was already phasing through him.

'Fast'

The spiral-masked man didn't dare to get too close to this man, his body was hiding in Kamui from start to finish, he is not arrogant enough to think he can fight Ghost on equal terms, or even react to this demon once he is out of Kamui space. This sword-wielding freak can do nearly anything.

"O, As expected of the legendary Ghost. You are so fast"

Ghost didn't move or try to attack the spiral-masked man anymore, did this masked man just use the same phasing move as his..?!

"Well, I expect no less from someone like you", The spiral masked Obito said lightly, "However, I have prepared a small gift for you. Though seeing your reaction I believe you already know this"

Obito grinned under his mask, "You are such a powerful sensor after all"

As soon as he said that. An overwhelming and incredibly evil Chakra breath rose to the sky on the other side of Konoha..!

This breath is very familiar to everyone in the village..! They all felt this evil aura on that night a few years ago!

Nine Tails! Nine Tails run. RUUNNN

At this moment, everyone recalled the fear of Nine Tails' breaking night!

At the same time, a red alarm rang in the village.

"I don't know how you hid your chakra so well, but I swear this trick won't save you from me ever again, mark my words, tonight you shall witness a hunt that you have never seen before!"

The spiral-masked Obito smirked when he found himself alone in the empty apartment.

Ghost was long gone with his parting words echoing throughout the whole room...

"Interesting", White Zetsu's face emerged from Obito's body with a grin, "Now I really wanna see how a legend controls Nine tail beast...?!"